26 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY
following up their routed enemy, secured the fortresses of Landau
and Trarbach and thus obtained good positions and comfortable
quarters west of the Rhine, and a favourable jumping-off ground
for the next year's operations. To add to the glories of the year
1704 there came the news from the Mediterranean of the capture
of Gibraltar. The whole situation had thus undergone a
startling change in favour of the Allies ; yet great as were the
material fruits of the victory of Blenheim, perhaps the most
important results were the shattering of the French reputation
for invincibility, the restoration of the moral ascendancy to
their enemies, and the mighty enhancement of the fame of
British arms throughout Europe,
The year 1705, however, was destined to be a disappointing
one. The British commander had planned an advance from
the Moselle into Lorraine, which would turn ^ the French
positions both in Flanders and in Alsace; but the ill-will of the
Dutch and the dilatoriness and half-heartedness of the Germans
brought this promising scheme to naught. By the middle of
May only 50,000 men out of the 80,000 hoped for had been
assembled, and the Duke felt himself top weak to deliver battle
against the strongly posted army opposing him under the able
leadership of Villars. Then suddenly a dash by Villeroi on
Li&ge summoned him in haste to Flanders ; Villeroi sought
refuge behind his strongly fortified lines along the Geete and
prepared there to deliver a defensive battle. But the Duke
passed the lines with ease and forced him to fall back in haste
to the Djrle. Once again he broke through the French defences,
but this time the Dutch came to the rescue of Villeroi and caused
the loss of the advantage gained. For the third time the perse-
vering English general outwitted his adversary, moving round
his right and catching him with his army only half assembled
in an unfavourable position near Waterloo. It was all in vain ;
the Dutch deputies were too blind to see the opportunity or too
timorous to take it; and in deep disgust Marlborough retired
to winter quarters. Matters elsewhere, however, had gone
better for the Allies ; the French fleet besieging Gibraltar had
been caught unawares and dispersed, and a small British force
under an eccentric but brilliant commander, the Earl of Peter-
borough, had set foot on the eastern coast of Spain, captured
Barcelona and Tarragona, and rallied the provinces of Catalonia
and Valencia to the side of Charles, the Imperialist claimant to
the throne of Spain.
A French success on the Rhine early in 1706 compelled
Marlborough to abandon a cherished project for the transfer of
himself and his army to Italy and an invasion of the south of
France, and left him no choice but to continue the difficult